Risotto ai Funghi Porcini

SP and I bought some dried porcini from the Italian market. It is very good quality so it is best that we consume it ASAP (that's my reasoning, anyway)

As we were cooking, I simply couldn't resist the temptation to do tastings every couple of minutes. The fragrance of porcini filled up the entire apartment! Luckily, there are still a good amount left when the dish is ready to be served.

We have made our risotto extra rich and it went really well with a glass of wine.

I can't wait until we make this dish again.

If only I bought more of this stuff from Italy, I would be making it everyday! :)

Who makes the better pumpkin? SP or me?

It's almost Halloween time and there are pumpkins everywhere! It looks all too easy, so we thought we will run a pumpkin carving competition this year.


Two contestants submitted their entries: SP and me. So, I am asking you to be the judge.

Please leave a comment with your initials and let me know whether you prefer the pumpkin on the left or the right. I will gather the votes. I will also decide whether you know your left from your right and make the 'adjustments' accordingly... hahahaha :)

This is serious and every vote will count!

France trip, Jul 2007 - The not-so-minor detail

We stayed at a B&B called Gîte de Chaloux near Simiane-la-Rotonde. The road to the Gite is unpaved so one has to drive very carefully at night. The building itself used to be a hamlet. The current owner is French and he speaks very good English. Our room is huge but the furnishings are very basic. It does get windy at night and the owner's dog sometimes get lonely/love-sick, but other than that, it is usually quiet and peaceful. It was high season and for the price, we don't have any major complains.

On the other hand, our car rental agency, Sixt, has gave us a pleasant surprise when we arrived: we were upgraded to a BMW 325! The car did use more petrol but it was comfortable and stylish!

If ATV is 'the vehicle' for Greek Islands, then a BMW is 'the vehicle' for European roads!

For more information:

Gîte de Chaloux, Simiane-la-Rotonde
http://www.gite-chaloux.com/frameset/index.htm

Sixt
http://www.e-sixt.com/

France trip, Jul 2007 - Les Mas des Herbes Blanches

Les Mas des Herbes Blanches is a one Michelin-starred restaurant. It is located in a Relais & Châteaux establishment, which was enough to guarantee glamour and elegance. The restaurant is in a small village called Joucas, but the very same place is also home to another famous restaurant: Hostellerie le Phebus Joucas. There are certainly money here. At the hotel carpark, there were Porches, BMWs and Benzs. We had to be extra careful not to another person scratch car when parking! :)

Since it was summertime, the tables were set on the restaurant terrace, which offers a panoramic view over the area.

The waiter was friendly and they were willing to speak English, which was a surprise! Our waiter explained every item on the menu patiently. In the end we picked the degustation menu.

But before it all happens, we were served a few appetisers with our aperitives:

Caviar on MELONs! Too bad, I had to skip this.

My cocktail with fried cheese balls and tomatoes.

The degustation menu starts here:

Tuna with French caviar, marinade with red peppers and geranium. Very contemporary cuisine, like Tetsuya's style.

Foie gras with coffee and cacao in 'Opera' style. It has a very fine taste and it was nicely decorated. The combination works well.

Langoustines with a very very light pastry and sauce. This is divine! I love this dish. I can easily eat 3 more of these!

Chicken with mushroom cream and pine nuts, topped with lettuce and summer truffles. Lovely dish again. Slightly on the salty side but nevertheless, very very delicious. The chicken is surprisingly tender and the texture is very nice.

Sole (fish) with cameralised onions, olives and capers. The fish is cooked to perfection. The sauce is wonderful. I am not a fan of the olives and the capers though, so I didn't eat them.

SP had the pigeon. Chunky, deboned meat with a great sauce. The meat is red and SP enjoyed this dish very much!

I had the lamb with heart of artichoke. The lamb is very very tender and the sauce was tasty. It would have been nicer if there were more sauce though.

Cheese. There were plenty of choices, so we asked the waiter to randomly picked 3 kinds for each of us.

Feuilleté with marmelade of strawberries and rhubarb with a biscuit on top. It is served with the basil and black peppers ice cream (the green bit). It is yummy, but not that special. Sounds like too much work, and little impact.

Chocolate 'tart' with pickled cherries and red wine sorbet. The chocolate was top quality, but at this stage, we were both very full!

Mignardises. Not quite the usual petite fours. It has an assortment of sweet things. The marshmallow is the best I've ever had. I wished we could try everything, but our stomachs simply can't accept more food.

It was a long meal. We were one of the earlier ones to arrive but, we were the last people to leave! We had a great time. The ambiance is excellent and we also had some good wine.

Overall, the food was very original and delicious. The view is wonderful and the staff are friendly and helpful. I think it is certainly worth the second Michelin star!

France trip, Jul 2007 - Gorges du Verdon

It was really nice for SP and I to visit Provence again. SP wanted to visit the Gorges du Verdon again before we were kinda rushing last time. So we took a day trip, driving slowly on the winding road.

It was a beautiful day and we stopped a few times along the way to admire the view and just relax. We only took a few photos through because no matter how we try, we can't capture how grand and majestic the gorge is!

Cliffs of the Gorge du Verdon

River Verdon, taken from bottom

Castellane is the gateway to the Gorge du Verdon. It is also where people decide to stuck a stone chapel at the top of the tall rock!

France trip, Jul 2007 - Random food pic

In France, you would have to try extra hard to get bad food. In the 1.5 week that we spent in Provence, we had simple food from a local bistro to extravagant dishes from 3-Michelin starred restaurant. They were all pretty good (We did complain about some of the Michelin-starred restaurants, but their food wasn't bad. They were just not special!), and they were definitely better value than what we get in the UK!

Here are some random pics:

Escargots

Scallop salad

Steak tartare. Whoever invented this dish is a genius! I love my raw stuff. Raw meat plus a raw egg is a great combo!

Duck breast in orange sauce.

Pied en paquets. Tripe, pig's trotter and lard. A very Provencale dish. The French are similar to the Chinese when it comes to food: no edible parts are wasted.

Chicken stew.

Scallop salad at a different restaurant. The scallops are cooked differently this time.

Garlic frog legs! That's a great number of legs!

Prawns with a curry-liked sauce. It is very very tasty! Too bad the prawns weren't peeled!

Steak. Comfort food. And French does their steak the proper way: bleu!

Fish pieces with some interesting spices. It is a very simple dish, yet very delicious.

Cous-cous. The restaurant owner was Moroccan. The soup was really really delicious! I finished it all up. If I have a thermos with me, I would have asked for takeaway! It is that good.

Mango ice cream

Chocolate torte

The third scallop salad we had on the trip. This time, the scallops are quite small and they are fried until crunchy.

Garlic muscles. Yummmm....

Squid from the market. We carry our own fork and spoon around and we happily use it whenever we can! hahaha.

France trip, Jul 2007 - Mont Ventoux

Mont Ventoux, or "windy mountain", is the largest mountain in the region. As the name suggests, it does get very windy at the summit.

The roads to the summit is very popular with cyclist. There are 3 roads that lead to the top. The cyclists at the Tour de France take the toughest trail, which has an average gradient of 10% in the final 16 kilometres! There are also strong, violent winds on the last kilometre. For the trained amateurs, the ride would take about 2-3 hours. But for the professionals, they can manage it in 1-1.5 hours, which is simply amazing.

It was a clear day so we can see far far away!

I don't know why this sign is patched. But according to the sign, the altitude is 1,912m.
Buying bon bons from the mountain top stall

View of the transmission tower. The last kilometre is all bare and rocky.

A memorial to Tom Simpson, who died of exhaustion on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the Tour de France in 1967. Simpson is a respected cyclist. On the day after his death, "the other riders were reluctant to continue racing so soon after his death and asked the organisers for a postponement. In the end, they agreed to ride but with the condition that they would allow a British rider to win the stage. This honour went to Barry Hoban." (source: wiki)

Panoramic view from the top (click to enlarge):

4x4 Experience

It's wet and rainy today and it's perfect for outdoor team celebration events.

So, here I was, driving for the very first time in the UK. And not just any driving, but serious 4x4 driving experience!

Team gathering up

Our first vehicle was a Defender and I did the sensible thing to opt out. It is the most difficult to maneuver and it is all manual. It's just not for me. I like my technologies.

When my turn came, I didn't start off well with the instructor though. It went something like this:

Instructor: So, have you done much offroading? [The normal ice-breaker]

JK: Er.. I haven't done much onroading and I haven't driven for a number of years.

Instructor: OK, let's take it easy then. Let's start the car. Put your foot on the brake.

JK: [Start car, as asked. Put foot on the accelerator.] Oops.. O. O. sorry.

The team members in my car couldn't stop laughing.

Instructor: OK. Go straight and follow the rut. You don't need to steer. Let the steering wheel direct you, like what you do after a turn during a driving test.

JK: ..... I haven't done a driving test. I don't have a license.

According to my team, the instructor's jaw dropped. My team thought it was very funny. Luckily, this is private property and I've asked upfront that this is OK. I am grateful that my team trust me enough not to jump out of the car at once :)

It worked out pretty well in the end and I had a go on the Discovery 3, Freelander and Range Rover (all top models from the range). I love the technology on the Discovery and I love the power on the Range Rover (v8!). The Range Rover was the easiest for me. The Freelander is not a great match. I found it very hard to control.

Here are some photos from the first half of the day :

Warming up on some gentle slope

At the 'quarry'


Taking a rest

The Discovery being rescued by the Defender from the very deep and muddy rut! That's not me! :P

The second half of the day was much more interesting. We were in 'safari' mode. But I was too busy, trying to learn from others, that I didn't take any pictures! Sorry!